


The 12 Days Of Christmas Oneshots.

by VampireVengence



Category: All Time Low, Fall Out Boy, Fearless Vampire Killers (Band), My Chemical Romance, Panic! at the Disco, Tonight Alive, We Are the In Crowd
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, F/F, F/M, Frerard, Jalex - Freeform, Jardougall - Freeform, M/M, Mistletoe, Peterick, Ryden, Rydon, The Timids - Freeform, brentrick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-24
Updated: 2014-12-24
Packaged: 2018-03-03 07:56:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 19,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2843765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VampireVengence/pseuds/VampireVengence
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>12 festive oneshots for the 12 days of christmas.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. On the First Day of Christmas (Peterick)

Pete pov

It was about half way through our special Christmas show, the fans were going crazy and the energy was mental. I’d had a bit of mistletoe attached to my base all evening to be festive and I suddenly had an idea, I glanced over at Patrick who was singing his beautiful little heart out completely oblivious to my scheming. He was gonna hate me.

I pulled the mistletoe from the neck and waved it around so the audience could see, as expected they went even crazier, Patrick still oblivious. I sauntered over to him, closing the gap quickly. He grinned at me as I stopped next to him still completely oblivious to my plan. I held the mistletoe above us and winked at the fans who went completely berserk, a few cries of ‘Peterick’ could be heard. Patrick glanced sideways at me with a confused look, his eyes followed the angle of my arm before he noticed the mistletoe and his eyes grew wide. I grinned devilishly at him before leaning in and kissing him full on the lips.

He stiffened at first as our lips collided but as I was about to pull off I felt him respond, lips moving perfectly in sync with mine. It was short lived however as he pushed me away gently and playfully flipped me off before flashing the crowd one of his dazzling grins, the rest of the show passed without a hitch.

*

“WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!!?!?!!” he yelled. It was just the two of us in the dressing room as the others had tactfully decided to stay out of it. “Jeez Trick it was a joke!” I lied smoothly, in all honesty it had been something I had wanted to do for years but never had the guts, I’d only grown enough balls to pull this off because I could totally play it off as a Christmassy joke for the fans. “’A JOKE’?! YOU JUST FUCKING KISSED ME IN FRONT OF THOUSANDS OF FANS AS A JOKE?!?!! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!?”  _wow_  “Dude chill! I was just messing about! It’s almost Christmas and they all enjoyed themselves! I didn’t realise it would piss you off so much.” He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger “why are you messing with me?” He looked like he was close to crying and I instantly felt awful “look, I’m really sorry Patrick. I didn’t mean to upset you. I was just having a joke, it won’t happen again I swear.” I pulled him into a hug and he sighed “I guess I overreacted a little…” I chuckled. God damn him and his sexiness.

*

Joe and Andy had gone out Christmas shopping leaving me and Patrick indoors to decorate our shared apartment. We were currently decorating the tree and as Patrick put lights on, because apparently the lights have to go on first, I was looking for baubles amongst our many boxes of decorations. Why we had so many I don’t know, I don’t think I’d ever seen half of the stuff being used and some was still in the original packaging. Yet I still couldn’t find the god damn baubles. I did find some tinsel though which I swiftly wrapped around my head like a turban. Coz reasons.

The song changed on the Christmas album Patrick had put on and it turned out to be Mariah Carey – All I Want For Christmas Is You.  Patrick began to sing along, quietly at first but he quickly got louder and louder sounding perfect with every note. I found myself getting lost in his voice “Have you found the baubles?” He asked as he stepped back to admire his no doubt flawless work. “I think they ran away.” I’d checked every box we had and there were no baubles “how can they o-” he cut himself of laughing at my tinsel turban, how is it that this man even manages to make snorting attractive? He covered his mouth in shock which set me off laughing which in turn set him off again so we were both stood laughing for about ten minutes over not a lot.

By the time we could breathe again the song had changed to some slow dreary thing that was in Latin. I grabbed his hands and pulled him towards me and started to spin us around on the spot in an awkward swaying kind of dance that probably looked absolutely ridiculous. He didn’t seem to mind though. He looked up and raised an eyebrow before reaching up to my tinsel hat and pulling out a piece of mistletoe I felt my eyes grow wide “I swear to god I didn’t know that was in there.” I didn’t want to get myself in any more trouble after the last mistletoe related incident. He chuckled, still holding it slightly above our heads “so what are we to do now?” I raised my eyebrow “well… we have been standing under mistletoe all this time.” He smirked “uuhh…” I didn’t know what to say,  _is he really suggesting what I think he’s suggesting?_ Before I could recover my mentality any further and bring back my ability to speak he pressed his soft, moist lips up against mine. I’m pretty sure my heart exploded.

*

I sat in the living room with a warm cup of coffee staring at the tree, turns out the baubles were in the one box we’d managed to miss when collecting all the Christmas decorations from the cupboard. I yawned as I stared off into space, Joe was still in bed and Andy and Patrick had gone grocery shopping. I yawned, how people got up this time every day I will never know I mean 10:00 am, it’s like practically night time!

A knock at the door told me the others had returned. I opened it to find Patrick doing his Eskimo impression, wrapped head to toe in winter warmers looking completely adorable. “Are you just going to stand there and watch or are you going to help?” I grabbed some of his bags and turned to take them through to the kitchen. “Hang on!” I turned back to Andy’s voice “what?” He glanced up above my head “forgetting something?” I followed his gaze to find mistletoe.  _Are you kidding me?_ “Aaawwww come on dude!”  Was he really going to make us do this. I know he was trying to help, he was the only one I’d told about my feelings for Patrick but forcing us to kiss wasn’t exactly going to do anything except potentially make things awkward, I mean I was confused enough over the other day!

“Rules are rules.” He smirked slightly and I glared “rules were made to be broken.” He shook his head “not the rules of mistletoe.” Patrick sighed “for god sake.” He grumbled before leaning up and pecking me swiftly on the lips before pushing passed into the warm apartment. Andy grinned but I continued to glare “you’re a douche.” He just laughed “you love me really.”

*

I lay on my bed staring up at the ceiling making a mental list of all the presents I still needed to buy. I’m useless at Christmas shopping, I decided I’d have to ask Patrick to come with me to help. He was awesome at picking presents for people. No sooner had the thought formed in my head the door opened and Patrick waltzed into our shared bedroom, he sat down next to me on my bed. “You alright Pete?” I looked up at him “yeah.” He raised an eyebrow “are you sure?” He asked “Yes…” I said slowly “why?” He gave me a calculating look as though he was trying to decide if I was lying. He sighed “Andy said you had something to tell me.” I swear to god I will kill him. I pretended to think, turns out I could have been a professional actor. “Not that I can think of.” I shrugged “did he say what it was about?” Patrick shook his head “just that it was personal stuff.” I just shrugged again “nope sorry.” He smiled “nah it’s cool, I figured you’d have come to me on your own if you had something going on.” He lay down next to me “I always do.” He hummed in agreement.

We lay in comfortable silence for a little while before he asked “can I ask you something?” I smiled “you just did.” He gave me a withered look which made me chuckle “shoot.” He sighed “what would you do if you were in love with someone and you didn’t know if they liked you back but you didn’t want to ask them outright 'cause that’s super embarrassing, especially if they don’t like you back and you're pretty much positive they don’t like you because they’re way too good for you anyway.” Wow, his little ramble basically just described my life. “I would probably trick them into telling me who they liked.” Total bullshit but he didn’t need to know that I was the type to stay quiet until the other person grew the balls to tell me or I got over it. He sighed “I guess that could work…” I smiled at his unsure expression “you could always get one of us to do it for you.” He nodded but didn’t say anything else. “If she doesn’t like you though Patrick then she sooo isn’t worth your time.” He smiled slightly “I’m gay Pete.” Well I hadn’t been expecting that. “Okay he’s not worth your time.” He smiled properly this time and rested his head on my shoulder “thanks Pete. You always know how to cheer me up.” I smiled “any time.”

*

We pulled up outside the shopping mall, wrapped up in padded winter jackets. The sky was thick with heavy white clouds. We’d barely made it through the doors before it started to snow in thick heavy clumps. “Oh great.” Patrick complained. “It’ll be gone before we’re finished.” We spent the afternoon shopping, oblivious to the weather outside which was getting progressively worse. By closing time I’d got my present for everyone, well everyone except Patrick but I’d seen him looking at a few things so I’d have to come back with Andy or Joe another time. We headed for the exit only to find it blocked off my around six feet of snow.  _Shit._

The overhead speaker sounded around the entire mall.  _Attention all shoppers. We regret to inform you that due to unforeseen weather conditions the exits have been disabled. All shoppers still within the mall will be remaining with us for the foreseeable future. We apologies for any inconveniences and aim to make your stay with us as pleasant as possible so all refreshment will be available free of charge from all food outlets. Any queries or complaints can be relayed to a member of staff. We thank you for your patients._

“Oh that’s just fantastic.” Patrick complained. At that moment my phone rang “hello?” I answered “Dude it’s like six feet of snow out there where are you?!” It was Joe “trapped in the shopping mall.” I complained “you’re kidding!” He sounded amused “I shit you not my friend, six feet of snow blocking the exit. They're giving us free food and everything!” He chuckled at my optimism. “Well isn’t that swell. Let us know when you hear stuff.” I agreed and we hung up.

I glanced around at the large groups of people complaining to the various members of the very apologetic staff about needing to get home for various reasons, as if they are supposed to be able to do something about it. “So much for it being gone before we finished.” Patrick grumbled I sighed “let’s go get something to eat whilst we wait, there has to be rescue people on the way.” Even if there were it was most likely they wouldn’t reach us until morning if it was six foot here then it would be everywhere else too so they’d have to clear the roads to make their way here.  _Great._

At about 11:00 that night there was a second announcement  _attention shoppers, we are happy to inform you that storm rescue teams have arrived and are starting to clear away the snow to allow you to exit the mall. We will inform you on their progress as we receive word of it however it is likely that you will be staying the night with us so could all shoppers who are either disabled, elderly or pregnant make their way to either the couch or bed stores and wait patiently to be accommodated for the evening. All other shoppers please make your way to a designated store to receive your sleeping bag and further instructions from a member of staff. We thank you for your continued patients and apologies for any inconveniences this tragic accident has caused._

We ended up on the floor in the main seating area next to the food court. The tables and chairs had been cleared to the sides so they could fit as many people in as possible. I lay in silence next to Patrick staring at the ceiling “Pete?” He whispered “are you awake?” I chuckled. “No.” He rolled over to face me not looking very impressed. “What?” He just shrugged “I can’t sleep.” I rolled to face him full on “me either.” I whispered trying to ignore the glares we were getting from a woman who was lying across from us with a sleeping toddler. He bit his lip nervously and blushed slightly as I watched him.  _Grow a pair Wentz!_

I took a deep breath “can I tell you something?” He nodded “just please don’t freak out.” I whispered which caused him to furrow his eyebrows in confusion but he said nothing so I continued “I love you Patrick.” His eyes grew wide at my words and I instantly regretted them.  _What have I done?_ I bit my lip as he blinked a few times. “What?” He seemed slightly dazed. “I uh…”  _crap, crap, crap!_ “Did you mean it?” His words were barely audible “sorry?” His warm honey eyes were desperately searching my own “did you mean it?” I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.

A giant grin broke out on his face as he lent over and kissed me gently “I love you too.” It was as though the weight of the world had just fallen off my shoulder, a gigantic bubble of happiness exploded in my stomach. I reconnected our lips in a sweet embrace as the woman who had been glaring at us earlier loudly cleared her throat. “Do you two mind? There are children present.” She said unnecessarily loudly causing several people to stare over at us. Patrick blushed at the sudden attention but the attempt at embarrassment didn’t faze me. “Well maybe you should concentrate on doing a better job as a mother and try showing them tolerance.” I retorted, she didn’t reply but grumbled something about ‘bloody queers’ under her breath. Patrick snuggled slightly closer and rested his head on my shoulder. “I love you.” He whispered before dosing off. I soon followed grinning like an idiot.

*

I woke up to the morning announcement.  _A_ _ttention shoppers, we are pleased to announce that if you make your way quickly and quietly to the roof of the building the rescue unit will be able to remove you safely from the building. We thank you for your cooperation and patience during this difficult incident and hope to see you again once the weather has improved. Thank you for shopping with us._  Ha yeah right. I went to sit up but found myself pinned down by Patrick who had fidgeted so that his head was on my chest. “Patrick.” He stirred slightly but didn’t wake, I poked him gently “Patrick!” He groaned and squinted slightly “waz goin on?” He mumbled only half awake. I couldn’t help but smile at how adorable that was. “We’ve gotta get up babe, they’re getting us out.” He smiled lazily and sat up stretching out and yawning.

We grabbed the previous day’s shopping and handed in our sleeping bags before heading to the roof where they were using a crane to lift groups of fives down to the ground. There was already a large queue forming, I wasn’t too worried as we’d get there eventually. I suddenly remembered I’d promised to call Joe when we heard news so quickly grabbed my phone “hello?” his voice was still thick with sleep “manage to drag your lazy ass out of bed before midday huh?” I teased “Bite me Wentz.” I chuckled “so you got some news?” He asked “yep, they’re using a crane to lift people to the ground from the roof.” I said “oh cool! Well we’ll meet you down there, some high way maintenance people towed the car back here yesterday when the snow started getting heavy with the advice not to leave it parked in mall car parks.” He laughed “well at least it’s not buried under six feet of snow.” I chuckled “Nah, most of its been cleared anyway, the roads are clear!”  _typical_ “’kay man, see you soon.” I hung up and re pocketed my phone before filling Patrick in.

It took about an hour to reach the front of the queue and then another ten minutes for the ridiculously slow crane to reach the ground. We got out and there were a lot of families hugging and chatting. Patrick took my hand and pulled me through the crowd of bodies to where Joe and Andy were standing slightly away from all the hubbub. Their eyes zeroed in straight away on our entwined fingers and they both broke into huge grins. “About time!” Andy chuckled making me blush slightly. Patrick grinned and lent up kissing me on the lips, I couldn’t stop grinning even when we got in the car to drive home. I’d finally gotten my Christmas wish. 


	2. On the 2nd Day of Christmas (The Timids)

Shane walked into the flat carrying groceries to hear a squeak closely followed by a loud thud and laughter. He headed into the living room to see Drew's legs poking out the top of the decorations box and Kier doubled over in hysterics whilst wearing a strip of tinsel around his neck like a scarf. The door banged closed as Laurence followed him in holding the rest of the shopping. "What happened?" Shane asked as kier gasped for air "I was trying to put the star on the tree." Drew huffed as he pulled on the edge of the giant box in an attempt to get out. "Shaaaaane." He held out his arms for a pull up.  
  
Shane chuckled as he placed the bags on the kitchen counter before helping Drew out of the box. "Yay!" the smaller timid cried as he was freed. He pulled the elder into a tight squeeze before bouncing off down the hall yelling at Luke. Laurence raised an eyebrow and Kier blushed slightly "yeah... he kind a found the selection box..." Laurence groaned as I shook my head, as cute as Drew was he was one hell of a handful when he was hyper. Turns out there was only about four chocolates left in the box which had been completely full and sealed before they had left.  _Great.  
  
_ *  
  
Drew had finally come down from his sugar high and was now crashed out on the sofa whilst they all sat around in the living room watching the Muppets Christmas carol. He was splodged out with his head on Shane's shoulder whilst Laurence and Kier dosed on the other sofa and Luke on the floor. Shane glanced around wondering if he was the only one still awake. "Drew, you awake?" he whispered "yeah?" he mumbled, it came out more as a question Shane chuckled "everyone's sleeping." He hummed in agreement "do you like the tree?" Drew asked suddenly "I did it all by myself, well except the star." Laurence had had to help him with that due to his lack of height.  _Bless._ "It's great." Shane told him. Drew grinned up at him, he really was like a small child. He was absolutely adorable though. His smile sent butterfly's through Shane's stomach.  
  
"Do you have a Christmas wish Shane?" Shane shook his head "I haven't really thought about it, you?" Drew nodded but bit his lip nervously "I wish for the nerve to tell the person I love how I feel about them" Shane felt his stomach drop, he'd known this would be coming sooner or later but that didn't stop the pain he felt. He plastered a fake grin on his face anyway "just tell her Drew, what have you got to lose? Either you get her or she's not worth it anyway." He smiled and blushed slightly "uhh...it's not a girl...." He sat up "he's a really good friend..." his cheeks got even darker red as he trailed off. "Do I know them?" Shane asked Drew nodded "you two are really close." Shane thought for a moment "Kier?" he shook his "Laurence? Luke?" he shook his head again "hmmmm..... the other Luke?" Drew chuckled and shook his head. He took a deep breath "Shane it's you."  
  
Shane's breath caught in his throat at the words. "You love me?" Drew nodded biting his lip. A large grin spread across Shane's face as the meaning of Drew's words sunk in. "I love you too." They both sat with large grins in their faces, watching Kermit the frog dance across the screen.


	3. On the 3rd Day of Christmas (Frank Iero)

Frank lay on his bed staring up at the mold patch on his bedroom ceiling being as quiet as possible so as not to wake his sleeping mother. It was Christmas Eve but she needed the sleep with another late shift at the hospital. Frank loved his mom and how much she cared but it did make things difficult. She would be working a double so he wouldn't get to see her until Boxing Day at the earliest and even then she'd constantly be on call in case she was needed.

He sighed. It looked like it was set to be another crappy Christmas alone. Frank was used to it by now; he hadn't had a proper Christmas since his dad had left them when he was little. His mum was always at work so the house never got decorated, there was never a turkey or any form of 'Christmas dinner' it was just Frank and a few presents that she'd remembered to get him and whatever his family sent. Yep that was the traditional Christmas for Frank Iero.

His friends always seemed to have such amazing times with presents and family and songs. It sucked that he would never experience that. A loud knock sounded at the door causing Frank to jump in shock. He quickly made his way down the stairs to the front door to find that there was nobody there.  _What the?_

A small whine pulled him from his confusion and he looked down to see a small puppy sitting on the porch with tinsel wrapped around its neck. It shivered in the bitter cold air of a New Jersey winter. He quickly picked it up and closed the door. The puppy wriggled frantically in Frank's arms as he tried to calm it down. He managed to get it into the kitchen and give it some water before it barked quietly. "Ssshhh!" he hissed he could not wake up his mother. He grabbed at the puppies tinsel collar for some form of identification only to find a small Christmas label.

_Merry Christmas Frankie! Hope this brings you a bit of joy and company whilst your mom's at work. Lots of love Gee, Mikey and Ray_


	4. On the 4th Day of Christmas (Ryden)

Third person pov

It was Christmas Eve and Panic! at the disco were on tour. To say that Brendon wasn’t happy was an understatement, he HATED that they were touring straight through the Christmas period. He knew his career choice would take him away from his family but this was plain ridiculous. He missed his family and the joys that Christmas together always brought. Not that Brendon was being ungrateful, he loved his friends (one in particular, not mentioning any names of course  _Ryan Ross._ ) and he loved being in a band with them, it just sucked ass being away from the family on a bus with the one and only thing you’d ever wanted for Christmas but couldn’t ever have.

 

Spencer pov

Something was up with Brendon. He’d been super quiet all day. None of us were overjoyed by the news that we’d be on tour during Christmas but Brendon had definitely taken it hardest. Not even Ryan could comfort him and Ryan always manages to make him feel better when he’s down.

Ryan dropped down on the sofa next to me after yet another failed attempt to cheer Brendon up which had resulted in him disappearing off to his bunk to be alone. “I’ve never seen him this down.” He sighed, sticking his bottom lip out slightly. I pulled him into a hug “I just feel like I need to do something to make him happy. Ya know?” I didn’t know but then again I wasn’t the one madly in love “there is one thing you could do…” I trailed off knowing I wasn’t going to get anywhere but trying all the same. He shook his head “we’ve been over this Spence.” I just sighed, even before he’d admitted his feeling for Brendon to me I’d known they both liked each other more than friends. It was obvious, even Stevie Wonder would be able to see it, it was that obvious! But no they were both completely oblivious.

“I still don’t understand why you won’t tell him.” he pulled away from the hug “I’m not gonna risk my friendship over some stupid crush.” I sighed “I’m pretty sure this is more than just a ‘stupid crush’” he smiled sadly “it’s still not worth losing my best friend over.” I shook my head exasperated. If he wasn’t going to do anything about this then I would have to do it myself.

 

Brendon pov

I finally calmed down after my silent sobathon and realised it was 11:55, the bus was silent so the others must have already gone to bed. I slipped out of my bunk to head to the bathroom so I could have a shower but found the way blocked by a giant box which had a large brick on top of it. I lifted the brick off with a considerable amount of effort and pulled the lid up to find Ryan awkwardly squashed up in it, the look of relief that flooded his features told me he’d been in there for a while. All of a sudden I felt hands on my back and was shoved so that I fell head first into the box landing awkwardly on top of Ryan. We were plunged into darkness as the lid was replaced “tell him Ryan or you’re not getting out of there.” Spencer’s voice floated through to us. “fuck.” He mumbled.

We stayed in silence for what felt like forever but was actually probably only a minute or so. “Sooo…” I said in an attempt to break the silence and to distract myself from how unbelievably close we were right now and how I could feel his breath against my cheek. “Looks like we could be in here a while…” he mumbled “yeah just until you tell me whatever it is Spencer wants you to.” He sighed “I can’t tell you. You’ll hate me.” he whispered “I mean it Ryan.” Spencer yelled “neither of you are getting out until you’ve told him.” I fidgeted slightly so that both my arms were free and clicked the button on my watch that activated the back-light and illuminated the entire box. Two minutes to twelve, I glanced over to Ryan who looked close to tears “come on Ry just tell me, it can’t be that bad.” He sighed and closed his eyes allowing a single tear to escape. “Just promise me you won’t like kick me out of the band or something.” Like I could ever do that! “I swear.” He took a deep breath before mumbling “IloveyouBrendonandIalwayshave.”

It came out in a barely comprehendible rush but my body still froze in response “say it again.” I whispered he gave me a weary look. The light from my watch went out so that I could only make out the outline of his features. “I love you.” I felt myself grinning like an idiot but then realised he couldn’t see it “Please jus-” I cut off whatever he was going to say by pressing my lips to his. I pulled away from his shocked form and rested my forehead against his “I love you too.” I pressed our lips together for a second time and received an instant response, however it was short lived as we were brought back into the light by the lid being removed and Spencer's face appearing.

 

He was grinning, a lot. “I told you so.” I glanced to a bright red Ryan who was glaring up at him. “Merry Christmas you two.” He winked and walked off. I glanced at my watch to see it was 12:03, so it is Christmas. I chuckled before grabbing the top of the box and pulling it back over “so where were we?” I felt his lips brush up against mine once more “Merry Christmas baby.”


	5. On the 5th Day of Christmas (Jalex)

You smile at your boyfriend as he places his hand on your knee whilst you drive you’ve been together now for exactly two years, six months and eight days but it gets more difficult to be a couple with you both being so busy with your increasingly successful band All Time Low. So this year you’ve decided to do something different you’re going to a small cabin in the woods that you used to visit when you were kids. A nice quiet weekend, just the two of you. It’s perfect for what you’ve got planned.

Alex blushes at the adoring glances that you continue to give him whilst you drive but you just can’t seem to be able to help but keep looking at his beauty. You’re in love!

You reach the cabin as quickly as you can. You are too excited about the plans you have made to surprise Alex. You grab him from behind and cover his eyes before he can open the door. “Hey!” he protests but you ignore him and continue to obscure his view, you want it to be a proper surprise when he gets in there and sees all the decorations you’ve spent the last few afternoons perfecting.

You guide him through the door to the centre of the room before removing your hands from his eyes. He jaw drops as he slowly rotates on the spot admiring your handy work “jack this is amazing!” he cries as he pulls you into a hug “you shouldn’t have!” you smile, glad that he likes it so far. “This is just the beginning.” You say as you take his hand and pull him to the kitchen where the starts of the evening meal are sitting ready to be cooked. “Jaaaack! You shouldn’t have gone to so much trouble.” He smiles though as you wrap an arm around his small waist and pull him lose to your side as you kiss his temple.

He takes the baggage to the bedroom and unpacks whilst you start the dinners. He comes back through to the dining room as you are preparing the table but has changed into his pyjamas “you don’t mind do you?” he asks noticing you looking. You smile and shake your head “not at all cutey.” He blushes as he sits at the table, you like that you can make him blush. He pours out two glasses of wine whilst you light the candles before bringing through the dinner.

The evening passes in a haze of Christmas songs, laughter and kisses as you relax on the couch in the living room. Before you know it the clock strikes midnight and it is officially Christmas day. “Merry Christmas Jackie.” Alex says as he leans up and kisses you softly. You pick up a Christmas cracker that had been conveniently left on the table and hold it out to him he laughs but pulls the end anyway. Just as you’d predicted he ended up with the bigger half, he tips the content out onto his lap. He put on the paper hat before picking up the slip of paper his eyebrows furrow as he stares at it. “Jack where did you get these crackers? The joke doesn’t make any sense!” you chuckle at his expression “what does it say?” you ask “all it says is ‘marry me?’” you stare at him with an amused expression as you wait for the words to sink in.

 

All of a sudden his eyes grow wide and he grabs the small box which had fallen out as a prize, he opened to find a thin gold band that had a swirling pattern etched into it. He squeals and jumps up, dancing around on the spot crying “yes! Yes! YES!  **YES! YES!!** ” he pulls you up and gives you a giant hug before slipping the ring onto his delicate finger. You kiss him gently as you both grin like idiots. Best Christmas ever. 


	6. On the 6th Day of Christmas (Peterick)

Pete pov

The ding of the seat belt sign went off as the plane came into land at Chicago O’Hare international airport.  The tight noting sensation in my gut increased the closer we got to the ground. _Wh_ _at if I completely mess this up?_ “Hey. It’s gonna be okay.” Patrick said noticing my nerves “they’re gonna love you!” he squeezed my hand gently and I smiled gratefully. So what am I doing that I’m so nervous about? I’m flying all the way to Chicago from California to spend Christmas with my boyfriend’s family who I've never met before. Nervous doesn't even begin to cover it! I took a deep breath to try and calm my nerves as we exited the plane. 

It took us and hour to get through customs and then another twenty minutes for our suitcases to make their way around the baggage carousel before we even attempted to make our way through the wall of people awaiting family member. Patrick pulled me through the sea of hugs and rejoicing too where a couple of women stood waiting nearer to the door. One was a bit older, I’d guess mid-fifties, with brown hair that was starting to grey at the roots and the second was younger than Patrick with blonde hair and she was holding a young baby. (a/n I have no idea what patrick's family are like so I just made some stuff up. I got some names off of the internet so again blame google.)

They both broke out in huge grins when they saw us and the second we got close enough they pulled us into a giant hug. I felt my nerves ease a little as I was released, hugs are always a good sign I decided. “Mom, Meg this is Pete. Pete this is my sister Megan and my mom Patricia. And this.” He said putting on a cutesy voice and tickling the small boy who was wriggling in his mothers arms. “Is baby Joey.” I smiled as Patrick lit up around his young nephew, he was always good with kids. I on the other hand was useless. “How old is he?” I asked purely because it sounded like an appropriate question. “Eight months.” She replied.  

We made our way to the car and despite my offer to help load the luggage I was declined as a guest and left to sit in the back whilst everyone else struggled with our stuff. Once the trunk was full Patricia drove off. I sat quietly whilst the others chatted easily and mindlessly, catching up with the things they’d missed. My nerves grew stronger the closer we got to his family home, I don’t know why I was so nervous but the thought of meeting his dad just seemed daunting. He squeezed my hand again gently and I realised neither of us had actually let go since touching down. We’d gotten quite a few dirty looks in the airport, you’d think we were performing X-rated porn the way they were behaving. Normally I would have said something but I had bigger things to worry about today so I just ignored all the homophobes.

I tuned back into the conversation going on around me at the mention of more family members I’d possibly have to meet “so is Kevin going to be here?” Patrick asked Patricia glanced at him in the rear view mirror “unfortunately not. He’s at the wife’s parents for the Christmas week and then they’re coming to us for New Year.” “That’s a shame.” He didn't sound too bothered. “So Pete what is it you do?” Patricia asked as a way of bringing me into the conversation “I’m the manager of the local music store.” She seemed impressed “ooh, good head for business aye?” I shrugged “I guess.” “He owns his own clothing company to.” Patrick added causing me to blush furiously. “Well now, that is impressive!” The conversation flow seemed to ease significantly after that and I decided I definitely liked Patricia. We pulled up outside the house and my nerves which I had all but forgotten returned with a vengeance.

I managed to persuade them to let me take my own suitcase this time however did not get further than the front door. It opened as we made our way up the path to the porch, “Patrick!” a greying man smiled as he stood in the doorway in a chefs apron. They hugged briefly before I was pulled in for one of my own. “So you must be Pete. It’s good to finally meet you, we've heard so much.” I chuckled as Patrick blushed slightly “it’s good to meet you too sir.” He laughed too “please, call me David. Patricia!” he called to his wife as she locked the car “what are you doing leaving our guests to handle their own luggage?” she shook her head at him, smiling “they insisted!” she shrugged “well we’ll have none of that now.” he took both our suitcases off of us before heading into the house.

He took our luggage up to the bedroom before leaving us to unpack. The room was a pale blue with a desk, a bed side table a double bed and a closet all made out of wood. The bed covers where black. Patrick sat down on the bed and glanced around “it hasn't changed all that much since I moved out. The posters are gone and the wall colours changed...” He shrugged, so this was his old room. I noticed a set of bedding and a deflated air mattress folded up at the end of the bed “are we supposed to use those?” I asked sitting down next to him, he shrugged “I think they’re there just in case.” I smiled and kissed his cheek, he rested his head on my shoulder and sat playing with my fingers “so how you hanging in there so far?” I smiled “I’m good; everyone has been very welcoming so far.” He sighed in content “I told you they’d love you.” He lent up and kissed my jaw before I turned slightly connecting our lips. It started off soft but quickly grew heated; I was pushed back against the bed as Patrick straddled me. We made out for a few minutes before I remembered his family were down stares probably wondering where we’d gotten too. “We should probably head back down stairs.” I mumbled against his lips, slightly breathless. He groaned but got off and straightened before pulling me to my feet.

We headed back down to find Megan in the living room. They’d made us both coffees which were sitting on the window ledge. I took mine gratefully before sitting in one of the free armchairs, instead of taking the other Patrick sat on my lap, my free arm slipped around his waist for support. Megan chuckled softly “get a little lost did we?” I took a sip of coffee from the giant mug to hide my blush “just showing him around.” Patrick said innocently. “Oh of course.” She giggled, shaking her head slightly. Baby Joey was now fast asleep in her arms, apparently car journeys were tiring things. I yawned inadvertently as the weight of our flight started to fully hit me. “How was the flight?” she asked “long.” I said making her smile “didn’t help that I had some squealing kid kicking the back of my seat through most of it.” “Oh the joys.” She shook her head in sympathy. A loud squeak came from the kitchen followed by a bang and giggling. I raised my eyebrow as Patrick shook his head “they’re cooking again.”  _erm what?_  He noticed my confusion “every year at Christmas they cook together instead of taking turns, things usually turn…. Interesting.” The look on his face told me that it was the same kind of interesting as our previous activities upstairs. Yeah I could see how that would be awkward.

The evening passed by pleasantly as we all got to know each other a bit. We eventually ate around two hours later than expected due to the lack of concentration in the kitchen but the meal still tasted great, and there was even dessert. His family found great pleasure in telling embarrassing childhood stories about him and Patricia was close to getting the photo albums out a few times. Even when Joey woke up it was fine, he was a pretty cheerful child, giggling and smiling, he didn’t even cry! Apparently he had different noises depending what it was that he wanted which made life a lot easier for Megan or whoever was looking after him. I just hoped I didn’t get left on my own with him, I’d still manage to fuck up.

I woke up the next morning with Patrick curled up at my side as we lay side by side in the double bed, it was more cramped than I was used to but I wasn’t complaining it gave me an excuse to be close to him. He stirred and stretched out, almost falling about of the bed in the process. I grabbed a hold of him as he flailed chuckling slightly. “careful.” He shook his head. “I forgot how small the bed was.” He grinned sheepishly as I wrapped my arms around his waist pulling him closer to me “you just need to make the most of it.” he grinned as he wrapped his arms around me meaning our chests were pressed completely together. He pressed his lips to mine softly as I rolled onto my back so that he was now on top of me.

A loud knock at the door interrupted us before things progressed any further. “Morning guys!” Megan called “morning.” We chorused. We were met by the sound of retreating feet so we continued to make out for a little longer before the smell of bacon wafted up to us. Patrick grabbed his geek glasses before we made our way down the stair in our pyjamas. We sat at the kitchen table with coffee whilst David cooked a fry up and Megan fed Joey scrambled egg in his highchair. I felt bad about not doing anything but I got the feeling I wouldn’t get far if I tried.

Patricia made her way down the stairs humming to herself “good morning all!” she made her way into the kitchen and poured herself a coffee, kissing David’s cheek on the way past. “Now boys, you don’t need to worry about putting the bedding away every morning, no one goes in there so it won’t be in the way.”  We exchanged a brief look “it’s no hassle mom, you’ve got to let us do  **something** around here we’d feel terrible if we didn’t help some way as were gonna be here all week.”  _Ooooh good save_  “oh nonsense honey! You are our guests, what kind of a host would we be if we had you cleaning and things!” she sat down next to me smiling. “You can always help look after Joey if you want something to do.” Megan put in. “well that’s hardly an issue!” Patrick cooed as he tickled the toddlers chin making him giggle excitedly.

Turns out we ended up looking after Joey a lot as Megan was working right up until Christmas Eve. Patrick was amazing, he knew instantly what the problem was and fixed it without a fuss, even the nappy changing! We sat watching home alone whilst he slept peacefully in Patrick’s arms, I smiled at him and how amazing he was. “You wanna hold him?” he glanced up to me “uuuuhh….” He chuckled “come on, I’ll show you.” He directed me on how to hold my arms and about supporting the head and stuff before placing him my arms. It actually wasn’t too bad, it was quite easy. Well when he was sleeping anyway. Maybe kids weren’t so bad…

By Christmas Eve it was so relaxed we may as well have all known each other forever. Patrick and I decided to take Joey out to the small park near the house. The air was crisp and chilly with heavy white clouds  _snow?_ I hoped so. It had been years since I’d seen a white Christmas, one of the few downsides to living in California. I picked him out of the buggy and he squealed with delight, for some reason the kid had taken a real shining to me. I placed him in the babies swing and pushed him gently causing more squeals, I heard the familiar click of a camera and looked up to see Patrick putting his phone away “no one will ever believe this.” He chuckled. I shook my head, out of all our friends it was kind of a given that I was the least fatherly, I was more of a kid than most kids these days.

Patrick on the other hand was clearly going to be an amazing dad one day. “Do you plan on having kids one day?” he raised  an eyebrow at me “small problem there Pete.” I rolled my eye “you know what I mean.” He shrugged “I guess, I mean it’s not something I’ve really given much thought too. Why? You getting all broody or something?” I chuckled “no chance, I just wondered, I mean you’re always so good with kids I guess I just wondered if you planned on some of your own.” he smiled and wrapped his arms around my neck “maybe when the time’s right we can make that decision together.” He kissed me softly.

At that moment Joey made one of his gurgling noises that meant he wanted formula. Patrick quickly retrieved it from the buggy as I pulled him from the swing. Patrick held the bottle to him and he took it easily, he placed his hands onto it and gripped tightly. He wasn’t quite strong enough to support it on his own yet but he was nearly there. Small snowflakes started to fall as the temperature dropped. Joey was fascinated by the small white flakes. I looked up at the sky feeling the cold flakes falling onto my faces. “We better get you home before you catch a cold and your mommy decides to kill us.” he told Joey.  _Yeah, probably a good idea_.

So Joey’s not really old enough to understand what’s going on with the whole Santa thing yet so we didn’t have to worry about putting out milk and cookies which was kinda a shame. That was always one of my favourite bits about Christmas as a kid. That and presents of course. And the food, okay I just love Christmas okay?

Patrick was already in bed when I made my way in from the bathroom, tripping over the airbed on the way over. Again. We’d blown it up and chucked the bedding onto it to keep Patricia happy, she hadn’t said anything since but she did make it every day so she was clearly oblivious.  _Bless._ I slipped in next to him and he pulled me straight in for a kiss. He straddled my hips and the kissing quickly grew heated. His hand either side of my head whilst mine made their way to his hips. He ground up against me and the bed creaked slightly in protest. “Is this such a good idea?” my higher reasoning somehow managed to ask, fighting through the desperate want that had taken over the rest of my body. He chuckled against my lips “probably not, I think we can be forgiven though considering it’s Christmas Eve.”  _Well when you put it that way…._

So keeping quiet is super difficult when you’re dying from pleasure. We kept our lips connected for most of it to try and keep things quiet. It worked to a certain extent I guess. “Christ trick.” I mumbled as he pounded hard into my prostate “I’m so close.” It didn’t take long for me to spill over my stomach, biting down on his lip in the process which made him cry out slightly. He pulled out and I quickly set to work running my hand up and down his shaft for the last few pumps before he came all over my fingers, his head buried in my neck to muffle his moans of pleasure.  I slept well that night.

I woke up the next morning with Patrick practically on top of me where he’d fidgeted in his sleep. My sleepy angel. I soon got bored of being the only one awake and started to kiss down Patrick’s neck. He smiled slightly in his sleep but didn’t wake up, I started to suck on his soft spot, gently at first but slowly getting harder and harder until a small moan escaped his lips and his eyes fluttered open. I grinned and kissed his lips “morning angel.” His hand found its way to his neck where it covered the dark purpling hickey that stood out against his pale skin. “What was that for?” he mumbled, still half asleep. I shrugged “Merry Christmas.” He chuckled and kissed me gently. “I love you.” I grinned and kissed him sweetly, I felt him slip his tongue into my mouth but before things could progress further the door opened and a squeal of joy caused us to pull away.

 A very tired looking Megan stood in the doorway with major bed head in leopard print pyjamas, holding a bright eyed, wriggly baby who seemed already over excited and I’m pretty sure he hadn’t had any presents or anything yet. She smirked at us before walking over and sitting on the bed as Patrick put on his glasses. “Someone woke up super early and just couldn’t wait to see his favourite uncle.” Joey sat on Patrick’s lap and pulled his glasses off his face and started to gum the arm. Megan poked the airbed with her toe “I don’t know why mom thought you’d actually bother to use this.” She shook her head with a smile “Whatever keeps her happy I guess.” She looked up and her eyes zeroed in on Patrick’s neck “she will freak out on the pair of you if she sees that though.” Patrick blushed a dark shade of red as I chuckled. “She never had to deal with these thing whilst Patrick was a teen so she’s kinda going over bored on it now.” she grinned “oh shush!” Patrick cried blushing impossibly darker. “Daaaaw.” I giggled as I gently pulled at his cheek gaining me an elbow in the chest.

Patricia and David came in soon after to wish us all a merry Christmas. To say Patricia ‘freaked out’ was an understatement, she was  **not**  impressed. The three of them headed downstairs for coffee leaving us with Joey however he soon got fidgety so we had to take him down, Patrick grabbed the bag of presents for everyone on the way past and I suddenly realised that I had no idea what it was that we’d got for everyone, I’d left it up to Patrick as he knew his family best.

“I’d just thought he was better than that.” Patricia’s voice floated out of the kitchen as we slowly made our way downstairs. “Oh come on! They’re grown men, stop treating them like kids!” okay so they’re definitely talking about us. “It’s his first proper boyfriend, I think it’s a bit fast to be up to that sought of thing.” Patrick rolled his eyes beside me. “first of all they’ve been together for two years it’s hardly fast, second of all Pete is NOT Patrick’s first boyfriend, the first serious one he’s introduced you too, but not the first.” Megan defended us. “Well I’m his mother, it’s my job to look after him.” Patricia argued “yes, that doesn’t mean you have to treat him like a kid.” “Well I just don’t want to see him get hurt.” Megan chuckled “I wouldn’t worry about it mom, there’s very little chance of that happening.” I smiled slightly at that. I knew I wouldn’t  **ever**  hurt Patrick but it was good to know other people could see that too.

Patrick clearly decided he’d had enough of eves dropping as he entered the room “you can stop talking about us now, we can hear.” He put Joey in his chair before giving his mother a look “I get you’re concerned or whatever but if you’ve got a problem then talk to me about it, don’t bitch behind my back.” He was starting to get annoyed, to most people he’d seem pretty calm and collected but I could tell. I reached out and squeezed his hand gently, he looked to me and I gave him a ‘chill it’s okay’ look and he took a deep breath and nodded before going to pour us both coffee. Megan smiled warmly at me whilst Patricia still seemed stunned at the little outburst.

At that moment my phone rang so I exited the room to talk in the other room. “Hey honey!” it was mom “hey ma, merry Christmas.” She chuckled “how’s it going? Making a good impression I hope.” I smiled “you and me both.” She’d already met Patrick. She’d decided to come and stay on a surprise visit, it wasn’t long after Patrick had moved in and I’d kinda forgotten to mention it to her so it was a shock for both of them when he opened the door in his boxers to find this women he’d never seen before asking for her son.

“I’m sure you’re doing fine. If they don’t like you then that’s their problem, you don’t need to change for anyone and Patrick’s happy so it says more about them and their lack of support for their son than it does about you.” I chuckled, typical mom “now are you sure you don’t want me to pick you up?” she also lived in Chicago and we were staying with her over New Year “nah it’s fine really. We’ll get a taxi.” She sighed “if you’re sure.” Patrick waved to catch my attention before mouthing ‘tell her I say hi’ I smiled at him “Patrick says hi.” They’d gotten on instantly after the initial shock “give him a hug for me.” “Will do. Listen I better go but I’ll see you soon okay. Send everyone my love.” I told her “I will honey. Love you.” “Love you too.”

I sat down next to Patrick before passing on mom’s hug “From mom.” He chuckled in my ear “I’ll be seeing her soon, couldn’t she have waited?” I shrugged as I let go “you know there’ll be plenty more where that came from.” I swear she loved Patrick more than me sometimes! “Where abouts does your mom live?” David asked “the other side of town.” “Oh you should have said! She could have come as well then we could have spent Christmas together!” Patricia said. “There’s always next year.” Patrick shrugged. I smiled. It always made me happy to know he saw a future in this. I knew I never wanted to let him go!

All the presents were exchanged in a sea of wrapping. It was funny to watch Joey who was more interested in the wrapping paper than what came inside it. Patrick handed me a small wrapped box which I took carefully. I unwrapped it to find a necklace with half a heart on the end, it had his name etched onto it. I looked to him as he reach into his t-shirt to pull out a chain that I realised was the other half, with my own name etched onto it. I grinned as I gently pulled it out the box and fastened it around my neck. I’d seen them in a shop window like a million years ago and he’d called me soppy when I mentioned it. I’d completely forgotten about it. I handed him his box which wasn’t all that much bigger. He took it and opened it, when he saw what was in there he froze with wide eyes. It was a set of matching promise rings, the bands were silver with a black enamelled heart on them with our initials either side and  _I’ll love you for all eternity_ engraved on the inside.

He flung his arms around my neck and pulled me into a passionate kiss before whispering in my ear “you can have the rest of your present later.” I smiled as he slipped one of the rings onto my finger before putting on his own. “I love you.” I declared kissing the end of his nose as a chorus of ‘aaaawws’ sounded around us and I realised everyone had stopped to watch us. I felt my cheeks heat up as he chuckled next to me before snuggling into my side and resting his head on my shoulder, grinning like an idiot.

*

Two days passed and we were loading our stuff into the trunk of the taxi. His family were pulling us into yet another hug and telling us to visit more often for what must have been the millionth time. I laughed as we finally managed to escape into the freedom of the taxi. I gave the taxi driver the address and he headed off. “You better get used to all the hugs.” I warned, my mother was like a hug ninja and she adored him so she was gonna hug him as much as possible. He grinned “don’t worry I’ve prepared myself.” He took my hand and entwined our fingers resting them in between us. The cabby glanced at us in the rear view mirror and smiled “visiting family?” he asked “yeah, straight from one set of parents to the other.” He chuckled “well good luck. I remember the first time I met my in-laws, to say it did not go well would be an understatement.” I smiled before kissing Patrick's cheek.  I don’t know why I’d been so nervous about meeting his parents, I mean they were great and everything but it wouldn’t have mattered anyway. I love this man and I am never letting him go, nothing will ever change that. I glanced at our matching rings and smiled.  _For all eternity._


	7. On the 7th Day of Christmas (Jardougall)

Taylor pov

“Taylor!” she yelled. I sighed she was drunk again. I made my way down the stairs cautiously, the swelling on my face had only just gone down from last time. “Yes mom?” she sneered at me as she stumbled through the door from the living room. “I want you to go upstairs, pack up all your shit and get out of my house.” I felt my eyes go wide in shock. “b-but it’s Christmas eve!” she laughed darkly “you’re lucky I’ve put up with you this long.” I felt my eyes tear up as the words cut me like a million knifes, I tried to blink them away but one loan traitor escaped and made its way down my cheek. It only fuelled her drunken rage “is that a tear?” she snarled before slapping me across the cheek in one sharp, stinging swoop. “You’re pathetic. Now get out, I’ve had enough.”

I scurried off up the stairs as she yelled after me “you’ve got an hour. Anything left will go out with the trash!” I opened up the door to my bedroom and looked around hopelessly, fresh tears forming in my still damp eyes.  _How am I supposed to pack up my entire life in an hour?_

I filled up a large duffle bag with clothes before grabbing a backpack and filling it up with other things, money, mobile and charger, picture of me and dad. I sighed as I placed it in my bag, everything had changed since he’d died. If he hadn’t died then mom wouldn’t have become depressed and if she hadn’t gotten depressed he wouldn’t have started drinking again and if she hadn’t started drinking again she wouldn’t have become an abusive alcoholic. Not that I blamed dad for anything, I just missed him so bad.

I finished packing up my stuff, stuffing everything I could into one of the two bags. I then headed down the stairs. She threw her arm out in front of me as I reached the bottom, stopping me from moving any further. “Give me your keys, I don’t want you trying to sneak back in whilst I’m at work or something.” I reluctantly reached into my pocket and handed them over before she practically shoved me out of the door.

It was already pitch black and freezing outside as I wondered around the streets aimlessly. I stopped to out on a few extra layers of clothing as my teeth began to chatter. I sat down on a bench in the park whilst I thought over my options before realising I didn’t have any.  _What am I supposed to do now?_ I had nowhere I could go and no one I could stay with.

I sat there for a little while longer before it started to snow and I was forced to try and find somewhere I could shelter. I ended up in a dark alleyway which was obscured slightly by the dumpster. It stunk of moss and was icy cold but I was sheltered a bit from the snow and wind. I sat back against the wall before hugging my knees to my chest and wresting my head against them. I let the tears that I had been holding back since I’d left the house flow down my face. I was completely alone.

 

Jenna pov

I walked back form the 24 hour Walmart with the groceries when I passed a dark alleyway. I stopped as I heard the sound of crying. I glanced in the ally and couldn’t see anything but as the sobbing continued I crept a little closer and found a girl around my age, she had brown hair and a blue beanie with blue jeans and black converse with several hoodies. She was curled up against the wall shaking with tears, “hey are you okay?” she jumped at the sound of my voice and looked up at me with wide eyes. She looked petrified.

 

Taylor pov

A thick Australian accent made me jump out of my skin “are you okay?” I looked up to see a girl around my age with blonde hair, warm brown eyes and a nose ring like mine. she was smiling kindly at me and was actually very pretty. “I- I.” I stuttered out, completely shocked. “Hey it’s okay.” She said stepping a little closer “I’m not going to hurt you.” I sniffed and wiped my eyes on my hand. She put a grocery bag down on the floor before crouching in front of me. “What happened? Do you want me to call someone? Get them to come pick you up?” I almost said yes before realising I had no one who could come and get me, the realisation hit me like a tonne of bricks and fresh tears streamed down my face again as I sobbed.

The girl pulled me into a hug and rubbed my back soothingly whilst I sobbed on her shoulder. She smelled of a mix of vanilla and cinnamon I randomly wondered if she tasted of it too. “Are you going somewhere?” she asked noticing my bags “not voluntarily.” I mumbled she pulled away and gave me a confused look as I wiped my eyes again “my mom kicked me out.” Her eyes grew wide “bitch!” I chuckled, a complete stranger and she already knew my mother perfectly. “So where are you staying?” I shrugged and waved my arms around a little. Her eyes grew wide “you are NOT staying here!” she cried “I have nowhere else to go.” She jumped up and grabbed my backpack, slinging it over her shoulder and picking up the grocery bag. “That settles it then, you’re staying with me.” she reached her hand out and pulled me to my feet “I’m Jenna by the way.” She smiled, I returned it half-heartedly “Taylor.”

I followed he through the dark town to her house as she babbled mindlessly “are you sure your parents are gonna be okay with this?” I asked she laughed musically “they’re both away on business trips till the end of the holidays, but even then they’ll be totally fine with it. Mom especially is a sucker for a sob story.” I felt some of the nerves wash away as we walked up the path to her porch. She unlocked the door and dumped my backpack on the floor before heading into the kitchen, she indicated a room to the left “make yourself at home.” I sat down on one of the cream couches as she rummaged around in the kitchen “do you want anything?” she asked “no thank you.”  She appeared in the doorway “you sure?” her eyes grew wide as she ran over and started inspecting my face “what happened? You’ve got a hand print on your face!” I felt the slightly heated skin “mom.” I shrugged as she narrowed her eye “why?” I sighed “she’s a violent alcoholic.” She pulled me into another hug “good thing you’re safe now.”

She jumped up and pulled me with her “come on let’s make Christmas cookies!” she pulled me into the kitchen and grabbed some things out of the cupboards. I started adding the ingredients to the bowl but before I got very far I got a face full of flower. (a/n I have no idea how you make cookies from scratch so if this is not an ingredient in cookies then I apologies) I spat out as much as I could and wiped my eye whilst Jenna doubled over laughing; I grabbed an egg from the box and cracked it on her head. She gasped as the sticky liquid slid down her neck and face. We ended up with more ingredients over ourselves and all over the floor than in the mixing bowl but we had a laugh and eventually managed to get some tree shaped biscuits in the oven.  I glanced up at the clock and realised it was 11:30,  _holy shit._ “You should probably go shower.” She said as she started washing up “uh sure?” she laughed “my bedroom doors directly opposite the stairs and there’s an en suit.”

I headed up the stairs with my bags and soon found the shower. The feel of the hot water on my ice cold skin was amazing as I washed my hair thoroughly making sure I was as clean as possible, I hadn’t showered in ages since they’d shut our water off due to mums lack of bill paying. I stepped out when the hot water ran out feeling mildly bad about using it all. I dressed in my pyjamas and wrapped the towel around my wet hair before heading down stairs.

I reached the living room to find Jenna putting up Christmas decorations. “Feel better?” she asked, she too had gotten cleaned up though I wasn’t sure how. “Yeah, loads thanks.” She smiled warmly at me showing off all her perfect white teeth. “Christmas decorations?” she shrugged “if it don’t do them now then they’ll never get done.” I laughed as I grabbed another decoration and started helping her put them up.

It didn’t take too long with us both putting them up before we were done. I pulled the towel off my hair as it was only damp now and continued to let it dry naturally, I knew it was a bad idea as it would only be frizzy come the morning but I really didn’t care right now. I glanced up at the clock on the wall and noticed it was 1:30 it had taken longer than I’d originally thought. I flopped down on the couch and yawned as she jumped down next to me and giggled. I raised my eyebrow at her as she giggled again  _what’s up with her?_

 

She cleared her throat and I glanced up to see her arm arced awkwardly above my head. I looked up see in her hand she had…….. MISTLETOE!?!?!? My eyes widened as she lent in and kissed my cheek which instantly flushed dark red. She giggled before jumping up and off the couch “merry Christmas Tay!”


	8. On the 8th Day of Christmas (Frerard)

Frank pov

I awoke to a loud thump in the hallway,  _sounds like the kids are awake._ There was a lot of shuffling before the bedroom door creaked open letting in a thin line of light which shone straight onto my face. I groaned as I heard a collection of giggling I opened my eye to see Jemma’s smiling face peering in at me. “Merry Christmas Frankie!” she squeaked before running in, followed by her sister Crystal. They jumped up on the bed and started jumping around on top of the bed. I chuckled and sat up with a stretch. Gerard groaned beside me as I looked at the clock 6:30 am  _joy._

“Go back to bed and sleep or Santa won’t come.” He grumbled his eyes still closed. “Siwwy daddy.” Crystal giggled. “Yeah Santa’s already been!” Jemma jumped on top of him again as I chuckled “yeah come on Gee, it’s present time!” he cracked open one eye and glared at me. “Bite me!” I grinned before getting out of bed and opening the curtain to a bright white New Jersey morning  _well that’s new._ “Oh my gosh! Snow!” they scrambled off the bed and stood at the window staring out at the newly fallen snow that was still pure and white and completely untouched. “Ish so pwetty!” Crystal grinned up at me as I ruffled her bright blonde hair. “Why don’t we go down stairs and see what Santa’s brought you?” “YEAH!” they both squealed in unison before running off down the stairs.

“Come on.” I said as I grabbed Gerard's hand in an attempt to pull him off the bed. Instead of getting up he just pulled me back next to him because I am a total weakling. “Come back to bed.” He whined. “But we have to go see our wonderful daughters.” I chuckled “not so wonderful at 6:30 in the morning.” He grumbled as a voice called up the stairs “daddy’s huwwy up!” I chuckled before rolling off and getting up again. Gerard sighed as he got up, yawning and stretching.

We got down stairs and I headed for the living room whilst Gerard made his way straight to the coffee machine. I chuckled  _typical gee._ I reached the living room to find that most the presents had been sorted into piles of who they were for. I smiled at how excited the pair of them were and sat down on the floor. Gerard sat down next to me and handed me a mug as they started to unwrap the many gifts.

Two giant piles of wrapping and countless squeals of delight later we were sitting at the breakfast table with toasted bacon sandwiches. The Christmas tradition of the Iero-Way household. “Can we go and play in the snow when were finished?” Jem bounced in her seat excitedly. “Sure thing sweetie, just make sure you’re dressed and ready when everyone else gets here.” Gerard told them. They pretty much inhaled all there food once they’d been told that. Running up the stairs to get dressed “make sure you wrap up warm!” I yelled after them. Gerard smiled before leaning in and kissing my cheek “merry Christmas babe.” I turned to face him smiling before connecting our lips briefly before a chorus of ‘eeeeww’s’ interrupted us. I chuckled as they stood with hands over their eyes.

“It’s safe.” Gerard told them as Jemma peaked through her gloved fingers, she grabbed her sister’s hand and dragged her towards the back door “aw you coming daddy?” crystal looked to the pair of us hopefully.  I smiled before leaning down and kissing her nose “be out in a minute just let us get dressed.” She grinned before running out into the back yard. “Oh  **we’ll** be out in a minute will we?” “What you not coming?” I asked innocently, I knew full well he didn’t like snow, but then again he knew full well the kids would never forgive him for not playing with them.  

I was soon dressed and out with the girls to help them build their snowman. It wasn’t long before a snowball fight broke out. I was hit several times in the head and quickly bundled to the floor. At this point they decided to jump on me and practically bury me in snow. They found this very amusing. “Daddy my glubs are awl wet.” Crystal told me, shoving them right in front of my face as I lay I the snow. “That’s because snow is wet.” She scrunched her face up at me “I know dat, I’m not siwwy.” I chuckled as she dropped down and joined me on the floor, making a snow angel. She really was adorable.

Once they started getting cold we decided to get in and get dried and changed before everyone showed up. Gerard had decided to stay in and start the cooking. “have fun?” he asked as he noticed my sopping wet clothes, I grinned as I put my ice cold hands under his shirt on the skin of his back causing him to squeak and glare. I chuckled “lots thanks.” He rolled his eyes. “Go and get changed, people will be arriving soon.” I kissed his cheek before heading off to our bedroom.

I’d just made it back down stairs before the doorbell rang and I opened it to find Mikey and a guy who I didn’t know. “Frankie, let me know when Mikey gets here, he’s bringing his knew boyfriend and I want to suss him out.” The guy, Mikey’s knew boyfriend apparently, blushed pink whilst Mikey rolled his eyes “we’re here.” He yelled back as they stepped over the threshold. There was a short pause before a very audible “fuck.”  “That’s a dollar in the swear jar.” I yelled “oh shush!” I grinned “a swear jar? Seriously?” Mikey asked “yup, we can’t be having such foul language around young children now can we?” I said putting on my posh, adult voice.

“UNCLE MIKEY!!” the kids yelled as they ran down the stairs and engulfed him in a giant hug, they eventually let him go and started gawking up at the new boyfriend, he smiled warmly at them. “Girls this is Pete, Pete this is Jemma and Crystal.” Mikey said. “Hi!” Jem stepped forward and shook his hand politely, crystal on the other hand went straight in and clung to the guys leg. She was big on hugs that one.  He chuckled and bent down to here level to hug her properly which she was very happy about. “and this is my brother-in-law Frank.” he told him. I shook his hand “welcome to the mad house.” He grinned “don’t worry dude, mad is my middle name.”

The kid’s soon dragged them off into the living room to show them what Santa had bought for them. I was just about to follow them in when another knock came at the door. I opened it to see Donna Way “Frankie!” she cried as she pulled me into a hug “I’m not late am I?” I chuckled “Nah, mum’s still not here yet and Mikey and Pete only just arrived.” She let go with a confused expression “who?” I took her coat and hung it up “Mikey knew boyfriend apparently.” I said as she furrowed her eyebrows before shrugging and heading into the living room.

I headed to the kitchen and grabbed drinks for everyone as Gerard ran around doing cooking stuff, panicking as always. I grabbed him by the shoulders and held him still, kissing him gently “relax! It’s only cooking Gee, you always do an amazing job. If we haven’t got something then we can do without it, it’s not the end of the world. Just relax and have some fun, you panic every year unnecessarily.” He smiled wearily at me before taking a deep breathe “I’m okay, let everyone know I’m serving in five minutes so to grab a seat in the dining room.” I nodded and carried the drinks in to the others before showing them all to the table. Mum still hadn’t arrived yet but I wasn’t too worried, us Iero’s have a tendency to run late.

The doorbell rang just as everyone started to eat. I got up and answered the door to a very flustered mom “you made it!” I grinned as I pulled her into a hug “always do eventually.” She chuckled “well everyone’s just sat down to eat so you’re not too late.” I said as I shut the door behind her as she made her way to the dining room and greeted everyone. I was so glad they all got on with each other; it must suck when you have the awkward family meetings full of hate and bitterness.

I took my seat next to the now seated Gerard, before settling into a lovely evening. Once we’d eaten and presents had been given out there were a lot of games and singing and mucking around with the kids. They were very imaginative when it came to thinking up things for everyone to do. I had the feeling we’d be seeing Pete more often, he was a nice guy and he fit in well with everyone. Crystal especially seemed to have become quite attached to the guy which he handled very well, though he was as much of a kid as she was. Coming from me says a lot.

 

By the time everyone had left and the girls had gone to bed I was exhausted, and I wasn’t even the one who’d been cooking! I collapsed on the sofa and Gerard soon joined me, now in his pyjamas “you okay Frankie?” he asked resting his head on my shoulder as I wrapped an arm around his tiny waist, pulling him closer to me. “Yeah, I’m just glad it all went well.” He chuckled softly “it usually does.” I smiled “says the one who has panics over the cooking every year.” He poked my side “oh shush! I’m allowed to panic; I have to not poison our families every year. I’d like to see you do the cooking without panicking!” “Oh I wouldn’t panic, I’d probably hospitalise everyone but I wouldn’t panic.” He chuckled and shook his head before kissing my cheek “merry Christmas angel.” I turned my head and kissed him fully on the lips. Here’s to another perfect Christmas.


	9. On the 9th Day of Christmas (Gerard Way)

“God damn it!” Gerard grumbled as he slammed the door of the van shut. “relax gee, the repair people said they’d be hear in two hours max.” Mikey tried to sooth his brother “THAT’S NOT GOOD ENOUGH GOD DAMN IT!” to say Gerard was pissed was an understatement. Their last show had gone terrible due to technical difficulties, all the flights had been cancelled due to the snow making it unsafe to fly meaning they would have to drive home and now their van had broken down. The universe was set completely against him getting home for Christmas.

“It’s Christmas eve Gerard! What are you expecting.” Gerard growled with frustration and kicked the tier of the van “I NEED to get home mikes.” He sighed as he dropped down on the floor in defeat. “We all want to get back to our family’s” ray smiled “I want, I NEED to get home! It’s Bandits first Christmas, I can’t miss that.” Gerard had missed too much as it was with going on tour for four months. Frank squeezed his shoulder gently “it’s gonna be okay gee, we’ll get you home.” Gerard smiled half-heartedly at them, he knew they were only trying to help and it wasn’t their fault.

Three hours passed and they were still stranded at the side of the road. “That is it!” Gerard fumed jumping up and grabbing his suitcase out of the trunk, “I’m finding the nearest truck stop and hitching a ride.” He declared as he started stomping up the road “Gerard is that really a good idea?” Mikey asked warily “do you have any better ideas?” Mikey stayed silent as Gerard glared “thought not.” He said before continuing off up the road.

He finally reached a truck stop full of cars and big shiny trucks, transporting various good across the country. He found a pay phone and decided to ring Lynz “hello?” she answered on the second ring “hey love” he said “hey baby!” she cried excitedly “have you touched down already? I wasn’t expecting you for another few hours!” Gerard sighed “there’s been a change of plans…” Gerard briefly explained what had happened and Lynz completely understood, telling him not to worry and just get there when he could, one of the many reasons why he loved her.

He finally hung up and turned around to find an elderly lady watching him carefully. “Are you alright their dear?” she asked kindly, Gerard smiled at her before giving a brief overview of his situation. “Oh you poor dear.” She said giving him a sympathetic smile “well I’m actually heading that way with my granddaughter if you would like a lift.” She said “oh that would be amazing if it’s not too much trouble!” he said as relief flooded through him. “Not at all, not at all.” She smiled

“Gran? Are you ready yet?” a girl of about fifteen rounded the corner of the building and stopped dead when she saw Gerard, eyes going wide.” She had long brown hair with purple streaks, green eyes that were rimmed in eyeliner and her clothes were all black. “Ah, Anne this is-” “Gerard way.” Anne whispered, cutting off her grandmother. Gerard smiled warmly “that I am.” She made a funny squeak sound. Gerard chuckled and shook his head slightly  _fangirls._

He placed his suitcase in the trunk before sitting in the back of the car. The whole journey was spent mindlessly chatting with Anne’s gran whilst Anne kept glancing up at him in the rear-view mirror. The hours passed by quickly and it wasn’t until it was pitch black that Gerard realised how late it actually was. He dosed for a little while and woke as they started to approach his block. He directed them to his house. They pulled up and he could see Lynz dancing around in the living room with a wide awake Bandit wriggling in her arms as she tried to rock her to sleep.

 

He chuckled and thanked them graciously for their generosity especially when she turned down his offer to pay gas money. He grabbed his suitcase and checked his watch 1:30 am  _crap! It’s Christmas day!_ He scrambled up the pathway and unlocked the door to the house. “GEE!” Lynz cried pulling him into a giant hug as he walked through the door. She looked exhausted “I wasn’t expecting you to be up.” He smiled and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. She smiled wearily up at him “well someone refused to go to sleep until she’d seen her daddy.” She said as she continued to gently bounce the smiling baby in her arms. Gerard took his beautiful daughter out of her arms and brought her into a hug, tickling her stomach which made her giggle “well I’m very happy to see you too my special little girl!” he cooed to her before kissing Lynz again “Happy Christmas baby.” She smiled “it is now your home.” He smiled before pulling her close to him with his free arm “I’ll always come home to you.”


	10. On the 10th Day of Christmas (Peterick)

Pete pov

“You ready munchkin?” Patrick asked as he strapped in our beautiful little girl before walking around to the front of the car and sitting in the passenger seat “Yesh!” she grinned, she was already in her costume for the play. Of course only being in kindergarten they were doing the nativity and she was an angel. She was very happy about this. She had wings and a halo made of tinsel and wire and her dress was silver and covered in sequins.

It didn’t take long to reach the school and the second the car was stopped Grace was out and running “Maddie!” she cried as she ran towards her best friend Madeline Urie who happened to be the second angel in the play. I shook my head as they hugged and jumped around all excited, you’d think they hadn’t seen each other in years when in reality they been with each other all day at school. Brendon chuckled as we approached hand in hand, receiving dirty looks from the other parents as normal. They’d been totally fine the first few days when Patrick had come by himself to pick up and drop off Grace but all the single mom’s had instantly swooped in and were flirting like crazy. I’d found it quite funny how freaked out he was but he’d ended up dragging my sorry ass down here twice a day to try and keep them away. It worked for the most part but you still got the occasional try hard.

“Where’s Ryan?” I asked as we approached. No sooner had the words left my mouth he appeared behind Brendon pushing the pram which held a sleeping baby Oliver. “Why? You miss me Wentz?” I rolled my eyes as Brendon chuckled before kissing his temple “eeeww!” the girls chorused because kissing is super gross, I chuckled. We headed inside and the girls headed towards their classroom where they had to wait until it started whilst we took our seats. I’d barely been sat down a minute when I heard my name being called, I turned in my seat to see Miss Aldridge, the head teacher, waving and making her way over. I sank slightly in my seat and groaned. I tried to avoid her as much as I could but she always seemed to sniff me out. She seemed to have taken an extreme liking to me.

She strutted over in her slutty secretary outfit which was far too revealing for a woman of her age who worked with kids and perched in the empty seat next to me “Miss Aldridge.” I said, putting on a fake smiled and extending my free hand that wasn’t holding Patrick’s. She chuckled and shook it “such a charmer, but please call me Greta.” It took a lot of effort to keep the smile on my face, I’d lost count of the amount of times she’d told me this. “So how’s little grace feeling about tonight’s performance?” she asked flipping her ginger hair over her shoulder and fluttering her eyelashes “she’s really excited for it, she loves all this performing stuff.” I said smiling genuinely this time, she wanted to be an actress apparently so she was always up for doing performances. She even joined a drama group which absolutely loved. “Just like her daddy then.” She said as she glanced through her eyelashes. Seriously? I’m sat here holding hands with my HUSBAND and discussing our daughter and she’s still gonna try and seduce me? Ridiculous! “Music and acting are a little different; I guess there’s plenty of time though. She’s only young.” She chuckled “they change their minds so quickly at this age.” I just nodded as a teacher did the announcement about cell phones before the lights went out.

The play started and a narrator started setting the scene whilst Mary and Joseph wandered around the stage pretending to different jobs to fill time. “Hot in here isn’t it?” miss Aldridge whispered before she started to undo the buttons on her shirt.  _Wait what?_ I lent towards Patrick “she’s starting to undress!” I hissed. He furrowed his eyebrows and glanced sideways at me confused “what?” I nodded my head in her direction and he bent around me slightly to see. He shook his head slightly and chuckled “have fun with that.” He whispered  _gee thanks for the help there trick._

I did my best to ignore her and managed to get into the play. The kids were cute and they were all really getting into it, especially the kid playing Joseph. He was really funny to watch. When the Grace and Madeline came on to so their bit they both waved at us mid song, which caused a few chuckles amongst the other parents. They did really well though and I couldn’t help but have a proud dad moment.

They’d just reached Nazareth when Miss Aldridge started to shift next to me so that her breasts where pointed very obviously at me. I did my best to focus on the play and was pretty successful until I felt her hand on my knee and slowly sliding upward.   _Aw hell no!_

I grabbed her hand and stopped it from moving, her face lit up as I glanced at her however instantly dropped as I moved it into her own lap before shifting so that my arm was around Patrick whilst our hands were still connected. He smiled and rested his head on my shoulder whilst placing his free hand on my knee. I relaxed into it and tried to ignore the hurt that flashed across her face. She soon got up and slipped off.

The rest of the play went on with a few more visits from our little angels, each time accompanied by a chorus of hallelujahs. By the end all the parent stood up in a standing ovation whilst the kids bowed and did a little encore before we all milled around whilst we waited for them to get changed. Oliver woke up whilst we sat chatting “hey there little man!” Brendon cooed whilst tickling his stomach causing him to giggle a smile before Ryan got him out of the pram and held him in his arms whilst he looked around inquisitively. He had one hand on Ryan’s shoulder whilst the other had a tight hold on one of Brendon’s fingers which he randomly flung around and shook whilst he gurgled happily.

The girls ran out towards hand in hand and giggling. This wasn’t an uncommon sight, “hey Oli’s awake!” Madeline grinned before stroking her brother’s chin. Miss Aldridge approached a fake smile plastered onto her face whilst her eyes were slightly puffy and red. I couldn’t help feel a little bad, at least she done her shirt back up. “Well done tonight girls! You did a great job.” She continued with the fake happy facade. Before turning to the four of us “you should all be very proud of them.” With that she walked off to speak with other parents.

We headed back to the car with a very hyper Grace bouncing along between us, holding a hand each. She talked excitedly the whole way home about how much fun she’d had and how the teacher had told them that it might snow and everything in between. By the time we pulled up outside the house I felt exhausted and Patrick was yawning so it was only natural that Grace would be wide awake.

 

We ended up watching the Christmas carol with hot chocolate on the T.V in our bedroom to try and tier her out. Thankfully it worked. She fell asleep in the middle of us on the king sized bed about half way through, I carried her to her room and tucked her in bed before kissing her forehead. I went back into our room to find Patrick had also fallen asleep. I chuckled as I turned off the film and pulled the covers over him whilst removing his glasses and hat. I got in next to him and kissed his cheek, he smiled slightly in his sleep, I snuggled a little closer to his sleeping form and whispered “sweet dreams Trick I love you.” He rolled into me as I closed my eyes, a mumbled “love you Pete.” The last thing I hear. 


	11. On the 11th Day of Christmas (Brentrick)

“So why are you making me do this again?” I groaned as I sat cross legged on Pete’s bed whilst he rummaged around in his closet. “Because it’ll be fun!” he cried as he pulled out a Christmas hat and a pair of antlers which had bells on. He threw the hat at me “besides you’re not the only one going, Joe and Andy are coming too oh and you’ll all get to meet Brendon too!” “Soccer camp Brendon?” I asked as I grudgingly put on the hat and pushed my geek glasses further up my nose. He rolled his eyes but nodded. He’d met this Brendon kid at a soccer camp he’d been to over summer break three years ago. They’d kept in contact and Brendon and his family had recently moved to Chicago from Las Vegas, Pete hadn’t shut up about it.

“I’m all for meeting your friend but seriously, carolling?” he grinned “don’t be such a scrooge Trick! It’ll be fun, besides it’s for a good cause!” originally Pete had wanted to keep any money we made but his mom decided that we had to donate the money to charity so now we were carolling on behalf of some charity I’d never heard of that was for homeless people at Christmas. We had an official collection pot and everything.

There was a knock at the door and Pete went off to get it, everyone was meeting here so he’d probably be up and downing a lot. He soon returned with what had to be one of the hottest guys I’d ever seen. He had slightly tanned skin and dark brown hair with warm brown eyes that were hidden slightly behind bright red glasses. He grinned at me, all teeth and ever so slightly lopsided. “Patrick this Brendon, Brendon this is Patrick.” Pete said as he dropped down on the floor. “Sup?” he said “the sky.” I replied instantly without thinking. Pete gave me a look that told me I was an idiot but thankfully Brendon chuckled.

He sat down next to me on the bed “nice hat. Not many people can actually pull off the Santa hat they just wear it to be festive. You actually make it look good.” He babbled as I blushed “uh, thanks.”  Just then the door bell sounded and Pete disappeared off to answer it. “So how you finding thing so far?” he shrugged “things are good I guess, it’s certainly very different to Vegas.” I nodded “and schools been alright, I’ve made a few friends and there’s a music club too which is cool.” “You play anything?” he nodded “guitar, I sing a bit too.”

I learnt pretty quickly that it didn’t take much to get Brendon talking and once he was talking it was pretty difficult to get him to stop. He was kind of like an over excited puppy with large hand gestures and just a general loud hyperactive nature, kinda like Pete actually it was no wonder they got on so well. He was pretty funny too, when Pete walked back in with Andy and Joe we were both in hysterics.

We soon left and started the long trudge around town stopping at every house and basically refusing to leave until they gave us money. It was fun at first but after three hours trudging around in the freezing cold dark I was ready to head home. “Are we nearly done yet?” I asked, my breath appearing in white clouds infront of my face. “Don’t be silly! We aren’t even half way around town yet!” I groaned “aww come on Trick, tiss the season and all that shiz!” Brendon cried before skipping off ahead, soon followed by Pete. I shook my head and chuckled “so Patrick.” Joe began; I groaned instantly recognising his tone. “Don’t even dude.” He chuckled “aww has Patrick got a crush on Brendon?” “Shut up!” I hissed, I would just about die right there if Brendon heard him. He seemed to find this very amusing “aww bless.” Andy cried “I swear if either of you say anything I will kill you.” I glared. “Why are we threatening death?” Pete called from where they’d stopped ahead of us “it’s nothing.” I mumbled feeling my cheeks heat up slightly. He raised an eyebrow at me but let it go, thankfully.

We trailed around for another couple of hours before we finally got back to Pete’s house. I was shivering like mad and my nose was bright red whilst my hands were numb and purple, thankfully Pete’s mum made us all hot chocolate to help warm us up a bit. Andy’s mum came to pick him and Joe up as they lived near to each other and I decided to stay over apparently so did Brendon.

We decided to put on the Simpsons movie and Pete even made popcorn. The dome had just come down over the city when a piece of popcorn collided with the side of my head. I glanced sideways at Brendon who was doing a pretty good job at looking innocent but I knew it was him, Pete was laid out on the floor asleep infront of me so couldn’t have done it. I waited until I was sure he wasn’t looking and grabbed a handful and threw it colliding straight with his head. He squeaked which caused me to giggle whilst he glared at me before a pillow collided with my face and knocked my glasses askew. I straightened them before thumping the pillow into his head and then a few more times on random body parts as he scrambled around and squealed, cowering away from the pillow giggling “Trick stop!” he gasped as I continued to beat him lightly.

Out of nowhere he grabbed at my legs causing me to fall backward so that I was lying on my back. He grinned as he hovered over me pinning me down “you gonna apologies for that?” he quirked an eyebrow as I shook my head. he shifted so that his legs were pinning me to the bed and started tickling my side, I gasped and giggled as I trashed under his touch desperately trying to ignore the fact that our crotches brushed a few times as I desperately scrambled trying to get him to let me go but he didn’t. “Ready to apologies now Patrick?” I shook my head but that was the wrong answer as he continued to tickle me until I couldn’t breathe “okay, okay!” I gasped “what was that Trick?” he asked as he pinned my wrists down “I said I’m sorry.” I mumbled. He grinned down at me “your forgiven.” He stayed still, holding me in place and watching me carefully. Our faces were millimetres apart and I could feel his hot breath on my face. Our eyes met and I involuntarily licked my lips as he glanced down at them and then back up at my eyes, he started to lean in slowly, and I felt my heart rate increase dramatically.

“Boys?” Mrs Wentz voice sounded outside the door as we scrambled apart. She appeared at the door and took one glance at Pete and rolled her eyes before glancing at Brendon, “your mom’s on the phone dear.” He groaned but took the landline from her and disappeared into the hallway. “You boy’s should probably get to sleep, it’s getting late!” I glanced at the clock and realised it was gone twelve. I hadn’t realised we’d been out that long. I nodded and she left me alone. I shut of the movie and realised Pete had dosed of on my air mattress meaning I had to sleep in his bed. I got in and settled down before quickly falling asleep.

I awoke the next day to find Brendon snuggled into my back. I was squashed right up against the wall with no room to move.  _Shit._ He fidgeted in his sleep and somehow managed to get even closer to me, I was completely trapped. The sound of movement behind me caught my attention and I turned my head to see Pete sneaking towards the door “Pete.” I hissed conscious of waking him up. He turned to look at me and started giggling “having fun there Trick?” I rolled my eyes “help me.” he raised an eyebrow “what the matter.”  _Are you serious?_ “I’m stuck.” He just shrugged “just wake him up.” “But he’s sleeping, if I did that to you you’d eat me for breakfast!” he shrugged again “well then stay stuck, there’s nothing I can do about it.” with that he disappeared out the door. I groaned at his lack of help, he really was useless sometimes.

I didn’t really want to wake him up if I could help it, I quite like my head attached to my body. I managed to roll onto my back but his mean I ended up with his head buried in my shoulder. I couldn’t help but feel slightly happy about this, even if I did need to get up. I rolled him off me gently and sat up before heading to the bathroom.

When I got back I found Brendon awake and Pete had brought everyone coffee. “You’re a life saver.” I said grabbing the cup and practically inhaling it “not a morning person huh?” Brendon chuckled as he sat bright eyed and practically bouncing “what was your first clue?” I mumbled as I yawned. Pete shook his head and chuckled as I placed my empty cup on the side and sat down on the bed. “Uh Bren…. You have popcorn in your hair.” Pete gave him a weird look as Brendon reached up and pulled the sticky sweet popcorn from his hair where it must have stuck last night. I chuckled as he poked his tongue out at me before flicking at me, it missed. Pete raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

I left Pete’s at around one pm but by this point mom had gone to work so I had to walk home. It turned out that Brendon lived close to me so he walked with me, well more galloped than walked. I shook my head at him and chuckled “how do you have this much energy?” I was still half asleep he shrugged “Christmas spirit?” I rolled my eyes and chuckled. “What time do you need to be back by?” I shrugged “mom’s at work so whenever I guess.” He nodded a grin spreading over his face “come on then, I have an idea.” He grabbed my hand and skipped off down the sidewalk dragging me along behind. “Dude where are we going?” I gasped as my arm felt like it was gonna come out of its socket. “You’ll see!”

We stopped outside of the mall and he dragged me inside. There were Christmas decorations everywhere and the shop windows were full of fairy lights. There was a line of little kids with their families that lead up to Santa’s grotto. Brendon grinned at me and I realised what he was planning. “No way dude.” I said “oh come on! It’ll be fun!” he gave me a puppy eyes look. “pleeease.” I groaned “fiiiiine, but I am NOT sitting on his lap.” He grinned and jumped around. I could probably pass him off as having problems.

We were nearly at the front of the line and there were a lot of people staring at us by this point. “Look! they move!” he cried as he noticed the animatronic reindeer that moved their heads. I chuckled at his childishness as he started around in awe at all the decoration. We reached the front of the line and a woman dressed as an elf raised an eyebrow at us but then smiled warmly as she watched Brendon and his fascination. “So who’s going to see Santa?” she asked, putting on a cheery voice “me!” Brendon squeaked before running into the grotto. I shook my head and laughed “it’s good of you to bring him, most brothers wouldn’t.” she told me “actually, he’s just a friend.” It suddenly hit me then how much that sucked. She smiled even more “well you’re a wonderful person.” I suddenly felt kind of bad for going along with this.

She let me through and I came in to see Brendon already sat on the guy who was playing Santa’s lap reeling off a list of random shit that I was pretty sure he was coming up with on the spot. The guy looked kinda freaked out at the fact a sixteen year old boy was sat on his lap asking for both a pony and a waffle iron. “Ho, ho, ho now that’s quite a list.” He said when Brendon had finally run out of ideas. He grinned “you don’t have to get like all of it; I just figured I give ya loads of ideas so that you wouldn’t have to worry if you run out of something.” The guy chuckled and ruffled Brendon’s hair “don’t you worry about that, you’ll get plenty of things you’d like. As long as you’ve been a good boy.” Brendon nodded enthusiastically before Santa looked up to “now who’s this?” he raised an eyebrow at me probably fearing an assault of present demands from another teenager. Brendon “grinned that’s Patrick! He brought me here.”  Santa looked relieved “well Patrick you take good care of Brendon here.” I nodded “will do sir.” Brendon jumped off his lap and we headed out the back exit where Brendon was given a free candy cane.

We left the mall and Brendon ate his candy cane enthusiastically. I watched him for a moment as he sucked on the red and white striped stick. I had to look away before shit got weird, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to control myself. “Well that was fun.” He grinned. I burst out laughing and then couldn’t stop for about ten minutes, Brendon just looked confused. “Did you see their faces?” I gasped wiping a tear from my eye. “They thought you were mentally retarded or something!” he broke out in a grin. “Well, I wouldn’t of gotten away with it if they didn’t!” I shook my head and laughed again.

We reached a small park that was completely empty and went and sat on the swings. He sat with one leg either side so he could face me. He was still sucking on the candy cane and it made him look very sexy. I had to look away. “So Patrick…” he began “got a girlfriend?” the question caught me off guard. “I’m gay.” His eyes grew wide “shit sorry, I didn’t know that.” I chuckled “don’t worry about it.” he nodded “boyfriend?” I shook my head “seriously? Good looking guy like you.” I felt a blush creep up my neck as I glanced at him. He didn’t seem fazed by what he’d just said. I shrugged “what about you?” I asked to try and change the subjects “nah, no one interests me at school.” I nodded he watched me carefully as though waiting for something; I thought over his word and decided I was just being stupid. “You still play soccer?” he nodded “I haven’t played in a while though with it being winter, out of season and all that. What about you? Do you play anything?” I laughed “yeah rite, me and sport don’t exactly go well together.” He found this very amusing.

We chatted for a while longer before I started to shiver, the frost that had formed overnight was still on the ground and the sky was clear with stars starting to appear in the evening sky. The Christmas lights were starting to come on in people’s gardens and windows. “It looks so pretty.” Brendon exclaimed as he looked around in amazement. “You look frozen he added.” I chuckled “I feel it too.” You could see our breath as we spoke. We stood up and started to wonder home.

The lamppost started to come on causing circles of lights on the street. I stopped underneath the one at the end of my road “this is my street.” He nodded “I guess I’ll see you soon?” I smiled and we stood awkwardly in silence for a moment, neither of us wanting to leave just yet. “Do you believe in love at first sight Patrick?” he asked as he stared up at the stars “no.” he looked surprised “I don’t think it’s possible to be in love with someone just by looking at them. I mean you know nothing about them or what they are like as a person, you might think they are good looking but that’s not the same as love.” He nodded taking in my words “love at first meeting or first impression then fair enough, you’ve gotten to know them and stuff.” I was rambling. So I just shrugged and stopped talking.

 

He took my hand as we continued to stand under the lampposts beam. “I think I have that.” He mumbled as he smiled at me. I felt myself blush furiously as I looked down at my feet smiling. I felt his hand on my cheek as he pulled my face up to look at him. He grinned too before connecting our lips. I’m pretty sure I felt my heart stop.


	12. On the 12th Day of Christmas (Mini Gerard Way)

The Way’s car pulled up in the mall parking lot and no sooner had the engine stopped Mikey was out and running towards the big centre, Donald Way following quickly after their youngest son. At four years old he could not be left unsupervised for a second without getting into some kind of trouble. Gerard at seven understood how to behave himself so his family were not too worried when he trailed behind them a little, only a little mind you they didn’t want him getting lost.

They joined the line of family’s who’s children were going to see Santa in his grotto. It was Christmas Eve so they were very busy with all the kids wanting to give Santa the last minute present requests. Gerard sighed as he stood behind his family and all the other families with children bouncing around excitedly as they waited to see their Christmas idol. Gerard wished he could be as happy as they were but he knew in his heart that he couldn’t. After all, he knew the truth.

Mikey noticed his brothers sadness and gave him a big hug “I’s okay Gee we’re nearly there.” Gerard smiled at his brother’s naivety, he was always such a good little brother. “What’s wrong Geebear?” Donna Way asked as she bent down so she was on the same level as her eldest son “I just…. I know mommy.” He sniffed slightly “what do you mean you know?” she asked, pulling her son into a hug “the truth.” He whispered “Santa, he….. He’s not real.” He sniffed again close to tears. “What makes you say that gee?” she asked, unsure where the sudden change of heart had come from. “Frankie told me, he- he saw his mommy putting the presents under the tree last year.” He whispered

She pushed him back slightly so she could look at his tear streaked face. “I don’t think frank knows what he saw honey. Maybe his mom was sorting out the presents Santa had left.” He sniffed and shook his head “that’s not what Frankie said.” Donna smiled warmly at her son, “well I can assure you Geebear, Santa is real.” Gerard smiled sadly up at his mom unsure of whether or not to believe her. She could still be lying to him.

They reached the front of the line and Mikey jumped up and down excitedly “we’re gonna see Santa! We’re gonna see Santa!” he sung. They went in and Mikey sat on his lap first, telling the jolly guy all the things he wanted for Christmas before assuring him he had been a good boy this year. Santa gave him a candy cane before promising to stop by the house tonight. He smiled at Gerard who then got up on his lap and copied Mikey’s actions only with a lot less enthusiasm.

They went to bed early that night as they did every year on Christmas Eve, after Mikey had put out the milk and cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. Gerard lay awake; he could not sleep with all the worries going around in his brain. Was mommy lying to him? Was Frankie just confused? He didn’t know and there was no way of knowing. After hours of lying awake thinking over everything he heard some noises down stairs. He tiptoed down and found it was coming from the living room.

He tiptoed over and peaked in, he gasped at what he saw. Santa clause stood there placing presents under the tree. He stood watching for a while as Santa set about his business before the older man spoke “now young Gerard, you ought to be in bed.” He turned around to where he stood by the door shocked “I- I heard a noise.” He mumbled, blushing slightly at being caught out. Santa chuckled as Gerard came a little further into the room, he bent down so he was at the same level as the young boy “now Gerard, I hear you were having trouble believing in me.” Gerard nodded slowly “Frankie said you weren’t real and that his mommy put all the presents under the tree.” Gerard whispered. Santa chuckled “ho, ho, ho last year I was a little behind schedule you see I ripped my trousers on the Iero’s TV antenna and I couldn’t jolly well walk around with my bottom on display to the world besides Mrs clause would be frightfully mad if she found out I’d gotten a whole in my suit. Anyway, Mrs Iero was coming in from her shift at the hospital when I was there and being the lovely kind person she is, offered to sew it for me. That of course meant I was running late for my other stops so I had to get her to put the presents under the tree for me. I hadn’t realise young frank had woken up.”

Gerard smiled. That did make sense; the Iero’s TV antenna had been broken for ages now. Gerard nodded at the smiling man. “Right now to bed with you! I have a busy night after all, I can’t just stay here and chat.” Gerard hugged him before running off back to bed and climbing in with a big smile on his face. He went to sleep feeling much better, Santa was real.


End file.
